Cambodia had a total 770,000 hectares of land under cassava cultivation last year – up from 574,000 hectares and 400,000 hectares in 2015 and 2014 respectively, according to its Ministry of Commerce.

Cambodia primarily exports its cassava to Thailand and Vietnam – enabled by the good transport systems with these countries.

For Cambodia to add more markets for cassava at competitive prices, the country has to sell its cassava to China – the world’s biggest market for the tuberous root. According to Commerce Minister Pan Sorasak, “the government is speeding up exports of cassava products to China after the countries reached general specialized preference (GSP) and sanitary and phyto-sanitary agreements.”

For the cassava trade with China to be operational, Cambodia also has to address challenges such as high cost of transport to China.

Another area that needs to be addressed is the price of cassava. As per analysts, the government does not subsidize the sector so cassava prices depend on export market rates. So the prices are determined by the amount of cassava exports to neighboring countries. The prices are low as Cambodia lacks factories for processing the tuberous root.

One way to address the problem is through government intervention to stabilize prices during periods of market fluctuations that will help protect farmers’ income.

According to some researchers, cassava grown in Cambodia should be processed into animal feed and starch – that way cassava can find a market within the country.